Marking device



July 9, 929. F. R. HASELTON MARKING DEVICE Filed Aug. 6, 1927 PatentedJuly 9, 1929.

UNITE STATES.

FREDERICK B. HASELTON,

OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

MARKING DEVICE.

Application filed August 6,

This invention relates to marking devices and is herein illustrated asembodied in a device for use in indicating the location of a submergedvobject.

It is a matter of common knowledge that an object sinking in water, inwhich there are tides and currents, does not descend vertically to thebottom but drifts untilv it, fin ally comes torest at a pointelf-setfrom that at which it entered the water. Owing to this tendencyon the part of sinking objects as well as their likelihood. of settlingin the soft mudd-y bottom of a stream or lake, the recovery of articlesaccidentally dropped into such bodies of water is very difiicult, and itis not uncommon that articles so submerged are never recovered.Similarly valuable objects are often lost by falling in water that is ofgreat depth. Examples of such losses of articles are to be found in thepractice of outdoor sports, such as fishing, hunting, and canocing whererifles, tools, fishing rods, etc. are apt to be dropped into a lake orstream, and also in marine operations where valuable articles such, forexample, as the payroll of a ship, are transferred by means of a smallboat from shore to the vessel at a time when the sea is rough.

With the foregoing considerations in view, the present invention has foran important object thereof the provision of a marking device which maybe readily allixed to any object to serve in. indicating the position ofthe object in the event of its submersion.

If a device of this character is employed in connection with articlesused in outdoor sports, such as fishing and hunting, it will beappreciated that the device must be compact and so arranged that it maybe allixed to the articles so as not to interfere with their readymanipulation. Accordingly, the invention has for an important featurethere? of the provision in a device of this character of a shell forenclosing the mechanism of the marking device, said shell being compactand adapted to be fitted snugly to an article such as a gun, tool,out-board motor fishing rod, etc. In the illustrative embodiment of theinvention the shell is provided with open ends, one of which is adaptedto receive the marking m ch-anism, and the other of which is adapted tobe fitted into or over the article in connection with which the markingdevice is used.

Another ffc ire of the invent in the provisni a. sine he" l i dlrlllg1927. Serial. No. 211,093.

normally the marking mechanism within the open ended shell, said closurebeing so constructed and arranged as to permit escape of the marker fromthe shell upon. submersion of the marking device. In the illustrativeembodiment ot the. invention this feature is carried, out bytheprovision of a. dissol-vable or water soluble disk which may beinserted into the open end of the shell, submersion, of the shellcausing the disk to dissolve, thereby permitting free emission.otthemarker.

As shown in the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the markingdevice comprises a spool or met upon which is wound a thread having oneof its ends secured to the reel and its opposite end connected to amarker made from material which will float, such, for example, as cork,wood, etc. To insure the discharge of the float from the casing uponsubmersion of the article to which the casing is attached, there isprovided a spring arranged to, press against the side of the markeropposite to, the. dissolvable disk, and in the operation. of the device,upon the disk becoming partially dissolved, the spring acts to. forcethe'float suddenly free. and clear-0f the casing with-inv which it hasbeen located, whereupon it arises to the surface of the body of water,and being connected with the. casing by means ot the thread, servesdistinctly to indicate the position of the submerged article, andfurther provides a convenient means for recovering the article withoutrequiring the search to be extended beneath the surfiace of the water.

Other features and objects of the invention will become apparent from. areading of the following description in the light of the accompanyingdrawings in. which,

Fig. l is a view inv section. showing the mechanism of the device, and

Fig. II is a view in section. taken on the line II-II of Fig. I.

As shown in the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates a cylindricalshell:or container provided with open ends and having formed centrally of itslength an integral dividing wall 12. In the illustrative embodiment ofthe invention one of the open ends of the shell 10 is renderedexpansible by the provision of a series of longitudinally extendingslots 14, and is provided with a plurality of i n is 16, means of whichslots the shied to he positioned.

clamo and clamped firmly upon the extremity 18 of a fishing pole, a toolhandle, etc.

A hollow cylindrical cup or casing 20 is formed integrally with thedividing wall 12 and is adapted to receive and to support a spool orreel 22 upon which is wound a fastening 24, which is illustrated in theform of a thread having its inner end secured to a spool securing screw26, and its outer end passing through and knotted against displacementfrom a float or marker 28.

To the end of preventing accidental dis charge of the marker 28 from theshell 10, there is provided means to retain the marker within the shell.As illustrated, the retaining means comprises a disk, or closure 30inserted within a groove formed within the open end of the casing. Ithas been found that a highly satisfactory type of closure is one madefrom a dissolvable, or water soluble substance, such for example asgelatine, etc. By means of such a provision, submersion of the devicecauses the closure to dissolve thereby permitting free escape of themarker.

The marking device may conveniently be provided with means, such as aspring 32 for forcibly and suddenly projecting the float 28 from thecasing upon the dissolving of the seal 30. Such an arrangement insuresthe successful operation of the device upon the water into which thedevice has been submerged, dissolving the disk 30.

While the invention has been illustrated and described herein asembodied within a shell for use in connection with cylindrical objectsit is to be appreciated that the i nvention may be embodied indifferently shaped containers for use in connection with various otherobjects. For example the fingers 16 could be omitted and the shellinserted into the heel-plate of a rifle or shot-gun, or a device of thischaracter could be made in a flattened form and embodied in the side ofa box, sack, etc.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A marking device comprising a hollow cylindrical shell having adividing wall located substantially midway of the length of said shell,slots formed in one of the ends of said shell to render said endexpansible, means located adjacent to said slots for securing the shellto an external object, and a marker located in the opposite end of theshell, said marker being normally restrained Within the shell butpermitted to escape upon submersion of the object to which the shell issecured.

2. A device for marking the locality of a submerged article comprising,in combina tion, a container having an open end, a marker located withinsaid container, and a closure for the open end of the container,

said closure being made of a water soluble substance dissolvable topermit release of the marker from the container upon submersion of thelatter.

3. A device for marking the location of a submerged article comprising,in combination, a container having an open end, a marker located withinsaid container, and a gelatinous closure for the open end of thecontainer, said closure being dissolvable to permit release of themarker from the container upon the submersion of the latter.

4. A device for marking the location of a submerged article comprising,in combination, a container having an open end, a marker located withinsaid container, fastening means extending between said marker and saidcontainer, and a closure for the open end of said container, saidclosure being made of a soluble substance to permit discharge of themarker from the container upon the submersion of the latter.

5. A device for marking the location of a submerged article comprising,in combination, a shell having an opening therein, a marker locatedwithin the shell, means tending normally to project the marker throughthe opening in the shell, and a closure for said opening arranged torestrain the marker within the shell, said closure being operative uponsubmersion of the shell to permit discharge of the marker from theshell.

6. A device for marking the location of a submerged article comprising,in combination, a container having an opening formed therein, a markerpositioned normally within said container, a fastening having one of itsends secured to said marker and its opposite end secured to a supportingreel located within the container, a dissolvable closure for the openingin said container, and resilient means tending normally to press themarker against the-dissolvable closure in such a manner that upondissolution of the closure the marker is projected forcibly from thecontainer.

7. A marking device comprising a shell adapted to be affixed to anexternal object, a marker secured within said shell, a water solublesubstance retaining normally the marker within the shell, and operativeto release the marker upon the submersion of the article to which theshell is aflixed.

8. A marking device comprising a hollow shell, means to secure saidshell to an ex ternal object, a marker within said shell, and adissolvable seal arranged to restrain normally the marker in a positionwithin the shell and operative to release the marker upon the submersionof the object to which the marking device is aifixed, and means to ejectforcibly the marker from the shell upon the release of the former.

9. A device for marking the location of a submerged article comprising,in combination, a container, 21 float, and a soluble seal adaptednormally to restrain the float within the container and being operativeupon submersion to permit escape of the float from the container.

10. A device for marking the location of a submerged article comprising,in combination, a container, a float located Within said container, afastening arranged to extend between the float and the container, and a10 In testimony that I claim the foregoing I 15 hereunto aflix mysignature.

FREDERICK R. HASELTON.

